They coat a living mammalian cell with a silica solution and apply heat, which burns off the live organic material and hardens the silica into a "near perfect replica" of it. The so-called zombie cell retains the shape and structure of the live cell but is more stable and can withstand greater pressure and temperatures. [...] But it can be used to preserve organic material for imaging or for further study.

Ok... So they cast a silica mold of a cell? "Fuctions better than live" Ya, if the function you want is "looks like a cell but doesn't actually do anything that a cell could do".

They coat a living mammalian cell with a silica solution and apply heat, which burns off the live organic material and hardens the silica into a "near perfect replica" of it. The so-called zombie cell retains the shape and structure of the live cell but is more stable and can withstand greater pressure and temperatures. [...] But it can be used to preserve organic material for imaging or for further study.

Ok... So they cast a silica mold of a cell? "Fuctions better than live" Ya, if the function you want is "looks like a cell but doesn't actually do anything that a cell could do".

I thought that as well... maybe the article is missing some further explanation.